With "The Avengers" currently flying high on unbelievable buzz and critical praise, it seems the game plan for Marvel and Kevin Feige is to do the complete opposite of everything in Joss Whedon's movie for "Iron Man 3." Wait, what?

With "The Avengers" currently flying high on unbelievable buzz and critical praise, it seems the game plan for Marvel and Kevin Feige is to do the complete opposite of everything in Joss Whedon's movie for "Iron Man 3." Wait, what?

Okay, it's a bit of an alarmist opening, but if you liked the good time, team up, high five vibes of "The Avengers," enjoy it now, because the latest adventures of Tony Stark are going to find him pretty much on his own. Empire caught up with Marvel honcho Kevin Feige who revealed where "Iron Man 3" will be going, and how it hopes to return to the gritty feel of Jon Favreau's first film. "So 'Iron Man 3' has been structured specifically to be the antidote to 'The Avengers,' " Feige said. "Circumstances in the story separate Tony from having access to anything."

So maybe this is why Black Widow will no longer be popping up? Indeed, it seems Iron Man won't have the comfort of being able to call up his superhero pals in this one. "We wanted to take Tony back to, metaphorically speaking, the cave from 'Iron Man,' the first half of 'Iron Man,' when he's cut off from the world and needs just focus on his intellects to get himself out of his situation," he explained. "So he's not calling Thor, he's not calling Captain America, he can't press a special button to have the helicarrier come rescue him, so I think that'll be a nice complement to the team up of Avengers."

Just how Tony Stark will wind up detached from his superhero pals remains to be seen. But it's an interesting shift in direction, and frankly, it's kind of nice that instead of cramming the third installment with even more characters (something that definitely diluted "Iron Man 2") we'll be back to Stark having to work things out on his own. But with Robert Downey Jr. appearing in four Marvel movies as the lead, and popping up in "The Incredible Hulk," surely the number is running down on his contractual obligations for Marvel. What happens when RDJ is ready to retire the suit?

"I think Bond is a good example. Let’s put it this way: I hope Downey makes a lot of movies for us as Stark. If and when he doesn’t, and I’m still here making these movies, we don’t take him to Afghanistan and have him wounded again. I think we James Bond it," Feige told Badass Digest. That comment should certainly spark a few conversations.

Boasting what is arguably the best cast of any Marvel movie to date, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow and possiblyAndy Lau will star in "Iron Man 3" when it hits theaters on May 3, 2013.